


Let Me Love You

by xevinx



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: And Will loves him a lot, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, It's Fred's birthday, M/M, Oh and a bit of smut, Oral Sex, straight-up fluff, that's all you need to know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2019-01-26 21:40:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12566788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xevinx/pseuds/xevinx
Summary: On Frederick's birthday, Will's plans to make the day special don't quite work out — but he finds a way to make it up.





	Let Me Love You

Frederick woke with a start, which sadly wasn't far from unusual. His eyes shot open and Will tried to look past the split-second flicker of panic that he saw in them.

"Happy birthday, Frederick," he whispered from where he knelt beside the bed, barely audible.

When he was satisfied that Chilton was no longer in panic mode, Will leaned over to drop a chaste kiss on his forehead.

Frederick really hadn't expected this. It was difficult to hear much over the blustery winds and heavy rain outside, but he was certain that his alarm hadn't even gone off yet, and  _he_  was the one supposed to be waking up earlier that morning, needing to travel all the way to Richmond and back for a guild meeting — the reason that he'd stayed the night in Wolf Trap was to shorten the long drive ahead of him.

But there was Will, wide awake. Wide awake and pulling back into focus again, messy curls cascading on either side of his face and a gorgeous grin in between.

Before a single word could reach his lips, Frederick's eyes began to fill with tears and he just couldn't hold them back. No one had wished him on his birthday in a very long time — in fact, he couldn't even remember the last time. 

That didn't matter now; the last thing that Chilton wanted was to be swept away in unpleasant memories when his present was so goddamn perfect. 

His perfection just kept smiling and kissed Frederick again as if there were nothing in the world but the two of them, not caring one bit about the storm brewing outside, the loud gusts of wind carrying and crashing leaves into the windows of the house.

"I know you're in a hurry, so I'm making you breakfast."

Frederick cursed the blood that rushed to his cheeks as he sat up against the headboard, surprised. "You really didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to," Will said sincerely, then joked "it's about time I cooked something around here anyway."

But his eyes spoke more than that; they looked down at Chilton bright and happy and said, resoundingly:

_Let me love you._

Breakfast was only French toast and Will's idea of blueberry sauce, but as they sat across from each other, eating their toast and inhaling cup after cup of coffee, Frederick felt more content than he could dare believe.

"I'm not sure what I did to deserve this, to deserve  _you?"_  he wondered aloud, reaching across the table to take Will's hand in his own. The words came out mushier than they sounded in his head, and a rosy hue made itself at home on his cheeks yet again, but he forced himself to hold his boyfriend's gaze.

Chuckling softly, Will chose not to read too far into the question. "I don't know what either of us did. We're kind of assholes, if you hadn't noticed. Now get going, or you'll be late."

Frederick reluctantly pulled his hand away so he could rise to his feet. As he walked past Will still munching on his own breakfast, he was unable to resist stealing a kiss goodbye.

It was slow and sweet and familiar.  _Warm_.

His tongue still tasted of blueberries and Will when he got onto the highway. Apparently, Frederick was fated to spend the majority of this special day alone on the very same highway.

* * * * *

This was the first birthday they were spending together and Will hadn't quite worked out what to gift a man with far more style than he understood. So, he decided to focus on making the day an unforgettable experience instead, because surely the value of memories stood above that of any material possessions. That was how he saw things. His plans included treating Frederick to dinner at a classy new vegetarian restaurant he'd driven past a few times, a half hour drive away. Reservations were hard to come by but by inquiring well in advance, he'd managed to secure one.

Unfortunately, as so often seemed to happen to him, Will's best laid plans went awry.

The storm escalated to the point where there were traffic jams on every major highway, accidents left right and centre. It was dangerous out on the road, and Will was left worrying throughout the evening as Frederick tried to make it back to Wolf Trap. He'd only managed to get one phone call in informing Will that there was no way he would be in time for dinner before his phone battery had died.

The hours dragged on and it was close to midnight when Frederick finally made it back; it had taken him eight hours to get back from Richmond when it should only have been three.

"Hey," he called while closing the door behind himself, and Will was already stood beside him when he turned back, pulling him into a gentle embrace.

"Sorry I couldn't make it in time for dinner –" Frederick mumbled against Will's shoulder.

"I'm sorry too. Did you at least eat  _something?"_

"Well, yes – I grabbed what I could at a truck stop."

"That's not exactly what we had planned, huh," Will replied, letting his arms fall down to his sides again. "I made pasta, and saved you some. In case you get hungry later, then."

"Thanks." Although sincere, Frederick was much too tired to force a smile onto his face.

"And –" Will continued anyway, heading into the kitchen "– I baked you a cake..."

Frederick began to follow in his steps, then paused a few feet from the kitchen doorway. "Will, while I appreciate the sentiment, the last thing I want right now is an upset stomach." 

Considering all of the work Will had put in, Frederick was being a bit of a killjoy. He did that sometimes, but Graham forgave him instantly because he knew the long drive had made his boyfriend grumpy. And more than that he understood how unfamiliar it felt to be loved selflessly, how they were both still learning to let themselves be cherished and pampered.

"I think your truck stop food would have already accomplished giving you an upset stomach," Will called over as he fumbled with the candles; Frederick placed a hand over his stomach in response. Probably. "Besides, it's totally vegan."

_Let me love you._

The sight of Will coming back holding a small cake, frosted with coconut buttercream — his favourite — actually achieved the impossible, it lifted Frederick's tired face into a gentle, fond smile.

"I followed the recipe to a tee, so I can assure you that it's quite edible." Will placed the cake carefully down on the dining table and turned around again, eyes squinting as he searched for a lighter. "I just need to light the candles..."

"Candles too? Seriously? This is... adorable."

"Shut up."

Chilton only sighed in response, quickly handing over a lighter from his own pocket — he may have indulged in several cigarettes on his long drive back.

As Will set about lighting the candles Frederick watched him silently and it really hit home that as quaint and casual and non-eventful as this was, it was the first time he'd celebrated his birthday with someone else in years. The first time he'd ever shared it with someone he truly loved. His eyes pricked unexpectedly with tears for the second time that day; tears of joy that he couldn't have willed away even if he wanted to.

"Fred?" Will snapped him out of his thoughts quite literally with a snap of his fingers. "Go on, blow them out!"

He did just that and proceeded to cut the cake. He was still trying to plate out a slice for each of them when Will hooked his fingers onto his beltloops and practically dragged him towards himself.

"What are you doing?" Frederick asked. His gaze hadn't even shifted over to his boyfriend yet, he was busy licking his fingers and still focused on pulling a plate across the table.

"You've done your blowing,” Will said in a low, husky voice, "now it's time for me to do mine."

At those words, Frederick jerked his head across to face Will so fast he almost felt dizzy just from the action. "Holy shit."

"I mean it." Lust and intent sparkled in the ocean of Will's eyes.

"I d– I don't doubt that."

"I know you're tired, so let me take care of you. Okay?"

Frederick nodded and swallowed harshly.

Grinding up against him slowly, Will started kissing Frederick's neck as he trailed his hands from his waist to his thighs to his ass. He couldn't stop touching him, nor could he refrain from whispering breathy sweet nothings in his ear. "I want to show you how grateful I am to have you. I want to spoil you rotten."

_Let me love you._

One of Will's hands slid around the front of Frederick's suit trousers and down beneath the waistband. Frederick stuttered, knees buckling slightly as he surrendered, wanton, to the heat of the moment. The scent of his cologne was faint after a long day, but Will revelled in its familiarity nonetheless.

"Because fuck, Fred, you drive me craz–  _oh."_

Their otherwise wandering hands just froze for a second or two. Frederick buried his face in Will's shoulder as they both breathed out sharply in something between laughter and exasperation.

"Christ, Will." 

Graham was silent for a moment. He didn't want to think about any connotations of  _that word,_  about the past, not then.

Pulling back, he cupped Frederick's face in both hands and tipped it up to look at him properly. He did so with such intensity and adoration that it made Chilton's chest seize up, it literally stole his breath away.

"Allow me to correct myself. You make me feel...  _more sane_  than I have ever felt before," Will confessed before adding with a sultry gaze, head tilted, "and also horny as fuck."

He reached down to wrap his arms tight around Frederick and the older man was promptly hoisted up onto the dining table, trousers around his ankles and Will kissing down his chest. He made a point to pay special attention to the path of raised and red scarred skin, then shifted lower so that he could mouth at Frederick's crotch, relishing the way the other man hardened and bucked up into his touch.

As soon as Will was finished teasing — which, for Chilton wasn't nearly soon enough — they both manoeuvred themselves awkwardly to finally do away with his boxers.

Graham's eyes darkened at the sight he was presented with, his pupils blown so wide that the blue was barely visible.

Although Frederick had been the more talented of the two at oral when they first got together, that margin had narrowed substantially. With eagerness and  _extensive_  practice that neither of them minded, Will had shown fast improvement.

His skills were on display when he took Frederick's hardness into his mouth, eyes fluttering shut as he worked him over with his tongue. Will took his sweet time, changing up his motions at a perfect pace that kept Frederick feeling sated and on his toes at the same time.

"God, Will,  _fuck_..." Frederick raked his fingers through that impossibly soft hair, mouth hanging open in a silent scream.

Graham only hummed around him in response, sending the most wonderful vibrations sparking through his nerves. After that he took him just a little bit deeper and achieved exactly what he wanted; Frederick came, and with Will's name on his lips, head tipped back and waves of tension rolling off his body.

Upon returning to reality, Frederick scrambled to pull Will up to face him by his shirt sleeves. He then leaned forwards to rest against him, still shaking, still short of breath.

"Quick shower, then bed?" proposed Will, smiling into Frederick's hair.

"You read my mind."

It ended up being shower,  _cake_  and then bed, with no complaints about that on either of their parts.

"The big 4-5, huh?" joked Will, light fingertips trailing up and down Frederick's side as they lay cuddled together under a pile of blankets.

"That's not a...  _thing_ , Graham." Frederick pouted, lifting his head from Will's chest to meet his eyes. If a single blink could express a dare, this one did. " _Don't_  make that a thing."

The bliss, the almost magical comfort of that moment, of having Frederick in his arms, gave Will the courage to bring up something he had been considering for a good while. He heaved in a deep breath to settle his composure.

"I know what you've been thinking about. This past week. Why you keep drifting away, lost in your thoughts. You've been thinking about the future."

Frederick was silent for a few seconds before replying: "Sometimes I think you have some kind of voodoo powers, you know."

A brief smile undulated across Will's lips at that, before his expression hardened a little. "So... the future?"

"Do you think about it too?" asked Frederick, a vein of hope in his voice.

"Probably not as much, I've never been one to plan too far ahead. Too unpredictable for my own good."

"I'm... quite the long-term planner."

"I like that about you. The way you're so organised. You kind of keep me on track," Will admitted. Frederick made a little squeaky noise in a questioning tone and Will nodded in reassurance. "But as I said, I have been thinking about it too."

"So... what? What do you see in your future?" Frederick kept his words vague and he  _was_  truly speaking in regards to all sorts of ambitions: personal, professional — and yes,  _obviously_  about their blossoming relationship as well. 

Graham, for all of the other's delicacy in regards to the matter, was supremely focused on their relationship. He had been for a while now. "I see you. Us. Like this."

His boyfriend might have been a man of few words but those six were so much more than Frederick could have expected.

"You really mean that?" Try as he might, he couldn't keep the emotion simmering inside from reaching his voice. 

"Yes."

Frederick lifted his hand and reached a hand up to stroke Will's cheek, gaze soft and so very fond.

"You'll be around for my next birthday?"

"For many more to come. I promise. Although –" Will added, quirking a brow and smiling playfully, "that'll be a lot easier if you're  _here,_  you know... all the time."

It was usually so easy for him to withdraw, to isolate himself. But now there was someone he actually actively wanted to be around; that was not a feeling Graham was used to. But it was why he felt able to put himself out there as he just had.

Chilton had all but moved in anyway at this point — they only spent a couple of nights a week at his place in the city, when it was necessitated by work. Still, the verbal gesture that Will had just extended meant the world to him, it made him feel so secure, so wanted. Will always made Frederick feel wanted and he couldn't have felt more fulfilled now, bathing in the warmth of the love he was blessed with. Soaking it all up, precious as it was.

"I hate my place anyway," he mumbled, the best response he could formulate while so utterly overwhelmed.

"I know."

Frederick smiled; a small, slight upturning of his lips. Of course Will knew.

"Thank you, Will. For opening your life up to me." He cleared his throat of excess sentimentality. "First things first, we're getting rid of that hideous armchair."

Will chuckled and shook his head in disbelief. "Fine, but the couch stays."

Chilton narrowed his eyes but he couldn't stop an amused expression taking shape on his face.

 _"Fine."_ His features softened almost immediately; that untamable sappiness had risen to the surface again, albeit still hidden somewhat behind quiet articulation. "You know Will, I can't even begin express how much you have changed my life. You're unequivocally the best thing to ever happen to me."

"I am?" Will asked, suspended in denial. For all of his intuition and perceptiveness, he could never understand quite what it was that Frederick saw and treasured in him. In such a prickly, socially inept, emotionally damaged loner.  _He_  was the best thing to happen to him?

 _"Yes._ So I will try my very best to make every single day as memorable as today, to make you as happy as you make me."

"You don't have to  _do_ anything. Just being here is enough."

"Let me love you," Frederick all but demanded, a stern undertone juxtaposing the otherwise gentle nature of his voice. They hadn't actually said the L-word before that, but the moment felt right and it was out in the air now.

Will only nodded in meek surrender, his insecurities no match for the other's devotion; after all, Frederick was always so insistent in choosing to love him even when he refused to let him, even when he felt anything but lovable. They both did that for each other. Silent still, he tightened his hold on the other man —  _as if there was any way they could get any closer than they already were._

Frederick tilted his head to meet Will's lips with his own, then proceeded to leave a trail of soft kisses down his neck until he could nuzzle into the comfort of his chest. Any fears he had been carrying about the future were lifted from his shoulders. For once in his life he stopped desperately aspiring for more because there was nowhere he would rather be, nothing he could imagine that was better than this. This was it.

In his 45 years, Frederick had endured a lifetime's worth of difficulty, and misery. That couldn't be erased entirely. But he held confidence that the next 45 — if he had as many left — spent in Will's arms, held the power to more than make up for that pain. Will was rewriting his life with love, day after day. And even as he slipped away into a peaceful slumber, fatigue overcoming him... Frederick was so incredibly grateful.

This was it.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow that got like super tooth-rottingly fluffy, I need a dentist
> 
> Thanks for reading :D This is my first established relationship ChillyWilly fic so I'd love to hear how you found their dynamic!  
> (I just really like the idea of them both learning to love and be loved together, because I don't think either has had much experience on that front...)


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